Invincible Beyond Heavens: Cultivating With A Broken EXP System

“Begin!” Third Elder Li Zhen’s voice echoed across the martial field, signaling the start of the duel.

Li Xian wasted no time. His right fist flared crimson, heat rippling off it in waves as faint tongues of flame flickered along his knuckles. With a heavy stomp of his left foot, he lunged forward, his burning fist tearing through the air.

For an instant, the shadow of a vast, looming mountain formed around his strike, pressing down with suffocating weight. The fist shone red-hot, radiating heat that made even the spectators recoil.

“Take my Burning Mountain Fist!” Li Xian roared, his voice brimming with pride.

Li Yun’s eyes narrowed, his face turning serious. ’A middle-grade mortal rank fist technique… and at perfection stage of mastery?’ The pressure rolling off the blow was unlike anything he had faced before. Yet there was no fear in his heart, only anticipation.

Drawing a deep breath, Li Yun clenched his right fist, channeling the Dragon-Tiger Fist. Immediately, azure light swirled up his arm, coiling into the shape of a dragon’s claw, while a crimson shadow roared into being, taking the form of a ferocious tiger. The phantom dragon and tiger circled his arm, their energy so sharp and wild that the ground beneath his feet cracked under the strain.

“Dragon-Tiger Fist, True Meaning Stage!”

With a fierce shout, Li Yun hurled his fist forward.

Bang!

The dragon and tiger’s shadows clashed violently with the blazing mountain, their energies devouring one another in a blinding storm of force. In the end, the burning mountain was shattered, consumed by the dragon and tiger’s fury. But the cost was steep, the phantom beasts dissipated in the explosion, leaving both fighters shaken.

Li Yun and Li Xian were each forced back five heavy steps across the arena floor, the tiles cracking under their heels, neither gaining the upper hand in the opening exchange.

“A draw? Their first clash ended in a draw!”

“No, forget that, did you see it properly? On Li Xian’s fist I clearly saw the shadow of a towering mountain, and on Li Yun’s fist… a phantom dragon and tiger! What in the world was that?”

“The weight behind their blows was terrifying. The pressure alone nearly crushed me from where I was standing. These two aren’t ordinary cultivators… they’re monsters!”

“And they were both using middle-grade mortal rank techniques! Yet the power felt anything but ’mortal.’ It was terrifying.”

“What chills me most is Li Yun. He’s only at the peak of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, yet he managed to fight Senior Brother Li Xian, who’s already at the fourth level of Body Tempering Realm, to a standstill. Can you even imagine how frightening he’ll be once he breaks through into Body Tempering Realm?”

“I’m telling you, that guy is the real deal. A monster in human skin.”

The martial field buzzed with endless chatter as countless young geniuses of the Li Family whispered and gasped in disbelief. The single exchange between Li Yun and Li Xian had shaken them to their cores. For many, it was the first time they truly realized that Li Yun’s strength could no longer be measured by ordinary standards.

“That’s… artistic conception!” Patriarch Li Jinyun rose slightly from his seat, his tone solemn. “I’ve only heard of this in theory. It is said that when a martial art is cultivated to the completion stage or beyond, it may reveal its artistic conception, the true essence of the technique. But such mastery must be absolutely pure, free of deviation. Judging from what we just witnessed, both Li Yun and Li Xian’s fist arts have reached an astonishingly high level of refinement.”

“Artistic conception?” The elders sitting nearby were visibly shaken.

They had long known of the term, had even striven for it themselves. Over the decades, they had pushed countless martial arts to the completion stage, some even to the perfection stage. Yet not a single one of them had ever touched the realm of artistic conception. Somewhere along the way, they had lost sight of the purest essence of their arts, allowing efficiency, shortcuts, or force to dilute their path. And once strayed, the chance was forever gone.

But these two juniors, Li Yun and Li Xian, had grasped what they could not.

Their cultivation of fist techniques had been so precise, so aligned with the very spirit of their arts, that the essence manifested naturally in their attacks: a dragon and tiger roaring from Li Yun’s strike, and a burning mountain shadow looming behind Li Xian’s fist.

It was undeniable proof. Both of them had stepped into a realm of martial arts that many elders could only dream of.

“My Dragon-Tiger Fist at True Meaning stage… and it only ended in a draw with Li Xian?” Li Yun frowned, though he quickly steadied his thoughts. It wasn’t without reason. The gap between them wasn’t small. He was still only at the peak of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, while Li Xian had already stepped firmly into the fourth level of the Body Tempering Realm.

The chasm between the Marrow Cleansing Realm and the Body Tempering Realm was massive in itself, and Li Xian wasn’t just at the entry level, he had advanced three steps further. Each level within the Body Tempering Realm brought a frightening increase in internal energy and physical strength, and Li Yun was still standing his ground with only his perfected fist art.

That alone was proof of his progress.

Yet while Li Yun felt a twinge of disappointment at the draw, Li Xian was utterly shaken. His Burning Mountain Fist was no ordinary technique, it was the martial art he had practiced the longest, the one he had poured endless years of training into. He had pushed it to the perfection stage, polishing it until it became his trump card, his strongest attack aside from his sword techniques.

And yet… Li Yun had neutralized it. With one strike, Li Yun had forced it into nothing more than a stalemate.

Li Xian’s pride burned hotter than the flames on his fist. His chest tightened as humiliation boiled inside him.

’Damn that Li Yun!” His thoughts seethed. ’I’ll end him here and now!’

Li Xian drew his sword in a smooth motion, his expression hardening. His body trembled faintly as he circulated his cultivation art, the middle-grade mortal rank Ninefold Flame Sutra, which he had already cultivated to the sixth layer. Immediately, the internal energy within him surged like a roaring tide, and his sword ignited in a blazing aura of fire.

“Nine Burning Suns Sword Art, First Sun!”

With a roar, Li Xian slashed forward. His weapon flared a deep crimson, the blade wrapped in scorching flames. From above, a blazing sun seemed to descend, burning with such oppressive heat that the very air rippled and the tiles of the arena began to smoke.

Li Yun narrowed his eyes, his keen comprehension piercing through the layers of the technique in an instant. “A high-grade mortal sword art… so this is the generosity of Sword Hall.” His lips curved slightly. If he had needed another reason to join Sword Hall, this was it.

In the Li family, high-grade mortal rank techniques were nearly untouchable treasures, reserved only for those who had rendered great service to the clan. Even geniuses rarely touched them. Yet Li Xian, as a disciple of the Sword Hall, cultivated such a technique casually. It was enviable… but not enough to make Li Yun falter.

If it had been a few weeks ago, perhaps he would have felt a trace of apprehension facing such a fearsome sword. But now? He welcomed it with open arms.

“This is going to be fun.”

Li Yun’s aura flared as he circulated the Blazing Sun Art, his mastery pushing it to the ninth layer, the highest level attainable. His internal energy roared like a surging inferno, flooding into his meridians until his body radiated heat like molten steel.

With a sharp motion, he unsheathed the Dark Light Sword. Energy poured into it, and the blade glowed brighter and brighter until it burned a fiery scarlet. At the same time, he unleashed the Crimson Sun Flame Sword Art, his technique weaving seamlessly into the weapon.

The two swords met in a violent clash.

Clang!

A thunderous ring echoed through the martial field as sparks exploded from the collision. Heat waves surged outward, forcing the watching disciples to shield their faces. The swords locked in deadlock, trembling under the crushing pressure of their wielders, while Li Yun and Li Xian glared at each other across the locked blades, neither willing to give an inch.

“Nine Burning Suns Sword Art, Second Sun!”

Li Xian roared as his blade flared hotter, splitting the air with a blazing arc. A second blazing sun seemed to fall from above, the heat suffocating, the pressure overwhelming.

But Li Yun met the strike head-on. His eyes closed in eerie calm, his Dark Light Sword moving almost lazily to intercept.

Clang!

The crowd flinched at the impact, but Li Yun hadn’t even broken a sweat.

“I don’t believe this!” Li Xian’s expression twisted. His pride burned hotter than the flames on his sword. “Nine Burning Suns Sword Art, Third Sun!”

His crimson blade erupted with even greater power, the phantom of a third blazing sun manifesting in the air before it crashed down at Li Yun like a hammer of fire.

Clang!

Once again, Li Yun blocked it effortlessly, his body unmoved, his expression unchanged.

Rage flared in Li Xian’s eyes. His strikes lost all restraint as he rampaged, one blazing sun after another crashing down from his sword. The arena turned into an inferno of red light, shockwaves exploding with each collision.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each strike was ferocious, shaking the arena, but Li Yun’s figure stood like an unshakable mountain. His sword moved with unhurried grace, blocking, deflecting, and redirecting every furious blow as if Li Xian’s assaults were nothing more than rain falling on stone.

The two of them raced across the arena, their blades weaving arcs of blinding scarlet, the clash of steel echoing like thunder. Sparks and sword qi shredded the tiles, forcing many disciples to stumble back from the sheer pressure.

The Li family disciples were stunned, their faces pale as they watched. None of them had imagined such a spectacle could appear in this year’s family assessment. This was no simple exchange between two young cultivators, it was a battle that could shake the entire clan.